RO/DI - SpectraPure or TheFilterGuys

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pammy

Member
Any opinions on which is better for a RO/DI - Spectrapure or TheFilterGuys? Are any units at Home Depot or Lowes any good and if so, any recommended brand? Is a RO/DI necessary or would a RO unit be just as good or would I need a test of water from my tap to determine if I could go with just a RO? (I get city water)

Is it best to go with a lower GPD ? (read the faq). LFS had a 100GPD spectrapure for $250 that they were recommending. Can I get away with one more in the $150 range or is it not worth the savings for lack of quality? After just spending lots of $$$$'s on a Elos System....I have to watch the bucks!

Thanks, Pam
 
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I did filter guys. I would not go with anything less than 75-100gpd. Just takes too
long to get usable amount of water. You need the RO/DI unit. RO does about 95%, DI finishes it off.

You should be able to get a 100gpd unit for around $150. I paid $139 plus shipping for my 4 stage RO/DI from the filter guys. That was a few yrs ago, so they may have gone up a little since then.
 
Depending on what Spectrapure model it is, it can be very different from any other unit available. I suspect the one they are selling is essentially similar to one from Filter Guys. If you look here on RC at Spectrapures Sponsors forum you will find a very good description of the Spectrapure MaxCap RO/DI system and how and why it is different than others and costs more initially. I would highly recommend the MaxCap system over any other unit bar none as it truly is a long term cost saver.

Whatever you decide to buy get a 75 GPD Dow Filmtec membrane, if its anything other than Spectrapure and a 90 or 150 GPD membrane only if it is a Spectrapure. A 100 GPD Dow membrane is a poor choice, in fact its not an RO membrane but is a nano filter rated at only 90% instead of th normal 98%. Anything less than 75 GPD just makes water slower, the cost will be within $5 of a larger one but you will wait an eternity to make a trash can full of water.
 
Thanks AZDesertRat. I wouldn't have known what to look for as far as a membrane. I think I'm going to get the 75 GPD (Dow FilmTec) from the FilterGuys. (OCEAN WAVE FIVE STAGE RO/DI).

Thanks again!!
Pam
 
Hi Plumbmike. Is that a RO only, or RO/ DI ? Can you tell me what the unit cost? Does it say what type of Membrane it is?
Thanks a bunch! Pam

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9459916#post9459916 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by plummike
I bought the Whirlpool unit at Lowes. Good price on replacement filters vs. some vendors.
Click to expand...
 
The Whirlpool does not use a standard Dow RO membrane, it is a special configuration that costs more and is harder to find than a 75 GPD Dow Filmtec. It is fine as a drinking water filter but is worlds different from a true reef quality RO/DI. The filters it comes with are not reef quality either but for drinking water. Don't make the common mistake of buying a drinking water filter and expect it to do the same job as a reef quality filter. If anything buy the reef filter and add a drinking water kit, your membrane and DI will last much longer and you will get better quality water.

I started out in 1996 with a similar setup from Watts premier and by the time I finished upgrading everything I had more invested than if I had bought my Spectrapure MaxCap to begin with.
 
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You need to determine your needs and how long you expect to use the RO/DI. If its for years and years nothing compares to a Sectrapure MaxCap and it will more than pay the difference back in less than two years with DI savings alone. Its documented.
No one else offers a membrane that guarantees 98+ % rejection rate and no one else offers the MaxCap and Silica Buster DI systems. I just passed 505 gallons out of my first MaxCap DI cartridge last night and with a normal RO/DI I was getting 150 gallons out of the same 24 oz of DI resin. I am also getting 99.194% rejection rate out of the RO only with a tap water TDS of 795 and an RO only TDS of 6.4 . You won't get that with any other unit on the market.
 
I love my Spectrapure Maxcap. Like AzDesertRat I got near 500G from my first MAXCAP and just changed it out. I never got past 175G on a normal DI refill resin. My Silica buster cartridge is still going strong.

Think to what has been said. A normal membrane spec runs as slow as 96% rejection. A 99% rejection means your DI will last 3 times as long. Put another way you save 3 DI resin refills. That's a lot of savings.

One thing AzDesertRat didn't mention is the prefilters on the Spectrapure kick butt. They will really prolong the life of your membrane. Here in Az we have very poor water. I originally got an ebay special RO/DI. My membrane didn't last past a year due to the poor prefilters. I'm already past the point my first membrane failed.

If you ever want to get your ear talked off on water quality call Charles at Spectrapure. He's probably forgotten more than we'll ever know. They make units not just for reefs but for the most demanding water quality applications out there.
 
:D My commercial Spectrapure single membrane PSP system is lousy. It can only produce a measly 1152 gallons per day, it has a horrible rejection rate of 99.57% with an incoming TDS of 696, and the product to waste ratio sucks at around 1:1.

The old Kinetico dual membrane RO unit I had, now THAT was one hell of an RO, it produced a massive 250 gpd, with a staggering 95.53% rejection rate at around 400 TDS in the winter, (please don't laugh, we do have winter in Phoenix, a numbing 55 degrees.) and had an incredible product to waste ratio of 1:15. :D
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9461697#post9461697 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pyrrhus
:D My commercial Spectrapure single membrane PSP system is lousy. It can only produce a measly 1152 gallons per day, it has a horrible rejection rate of 99.57% with an incoming TDS of 696, and the product to waste ratio sucks at around 1:1.
B]
Click to expand...


How much did that cost?
Did the RO section alone have 99.57% rejection rate? WoW!

Do you have a link to this model?
 
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Have you seen the MaxCap for less than $348, and if so, where? Are there any accessories that you need to purchase with it like auto shut off etc ? (I see that it already includes a pressure guage, monitor, etc).

I just bought the Elos System 80 which is a 53 gallon tank. I'm not going to be using tons and tons of water like if I had a 200 gallon tank. After plopping down big bucks on the Elos...I'm a little low on funds and still need to buy good lighting, live rock etc.

Thanks, Pam
 
Remember, the single largest ingredient in your system is water and everything revolves around it. Use it for drinking water too and it makes it much easier to justify, I probably use much more for drinking, ice and other uses than I do for the tanks when it comes right down to it.
Contact Spectrapure and see if there is any way you can get in on group buy pricing. Maybe someone else wants to go in on a purchase with you, it can save you a bundle, we have a group here in the Phoenix area doing just that right now.
 
The unit was purchased wholesale for the store and was around $2k if I remember correctly. They actually took the old Kinetico system and rebuilt it, eliminating one membrane and increasing the production rate and boosting performance. It even has a system that stores the membrane in the purified water between run cycles so that there is no TDS creep at all.

I have not yet added the DI portion to the system, but the only system that I am even considering is the Maxcap system using 2 4x20" Maxcap cartridges followed by a 4x20" Silicabuster cartridge, most likely on a recirculation loop on the storage reservoir to produce constant 18.2 mega-ohm resistive water. Sometimes we will go through 600 gallons of water a day at the store and I don't like the idea of dealing with 4' DI canisters or changing standard cartridges several times a day. The last time I talked to the guys at Spectrapure they hinted that the most recent mixed bed Maxcap should have a little better than double the capacity of the already incredible layered Maxcap.
 
Reef Exotics has it for $320. http://www.reefexotics.com/spectrapure.htm I got mine from Tony about 3 months ago while it still had the special price going. It was a no brainer. I have had lesser units in the past and this thing is built like a tank and has great support. Id find myself having to replace the RO membrane way too often which cost a pretty penny.

The water here on Long Island is actually pretty good with a TDS under 100 some of the time so I basically have to change out my micron and carbon filters every few months and the other, more expensive filters will last a long time. Just one less thing to worry about.
 
pyrrhus,
Having your DI on a loop? is that OK to do? wont you potentially have bacteria growth problems ?

I use alot of water also and have not hooked up my final DI ether, still looking at my options i to have two 20"ers. I was going to use separate bed DI resin So I could recharge it to save $$. Do you think silicate buster is necessary, I've never tested for that?
 
Thanks for the heads up! That's $28 cheaper than I've seen it elsewhere. Pam

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9461944#post9461944 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by d4a2n0k
Reef Exotics has it for $320. http://www.reefexotics.com/spectrapure.htm I got mine from Tony about 3 months ago while it still had the special price going. It was a no brainer. I have had lesser units in the past and this thing is built like a tank and has great support. Id find myself having to replace the RO membrane way too often which cost a pretty penny.

The water here on Long Island is actually pretty good with a TDS under 100 some of the time so I basically have to change out my micron and carbon filters every few months and the other, more expensive filters will last a long time. Just one less thing to worry about.
Click to expand...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9461975#post9461975 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Roland Jacques
pyrrhus,
Having your DI on a loop? is that OK to do? wont you potentially have bacteria growth problems ?

I use alot of water also and have not hooked up my final DI ether, still looking at my options i to have two 20"ers. I was going to use separate bed DI resin So I could recharge it to save $$. Do you think silicate buster is necessary, I've never tested for that?
Click to expand...

I would imagine that the recircultion would decrease any bacterial growth on the DI by virtue of the circulation alone. Bill Wann had a recirculating DI column, and Charles at Spectrapure actually recommended the idea to me.

I plan on using a total of 3 20" housings for the DI with 2 Maxcaps and one Silicabuster which is Spectrapure's mixed bed DI. With this configuration I should be able to produce 2400 gallons of water before changing a Maxcap cartridge, and 7200 gallons before changing the mixed bed. That is with the current Maxcap. With the new blend that should be out soon I would get 6400 gallons per Maxcap and 19,200 gallons per mixed bed cartridge. Pair that with the 10" 20,000 gallon rated carbon block and the Zeta-Zorb prefilter and you get a system that will produce 20,000 gallons of lab grade water with one prefilter set change and 4 DI cartridges. (For those using conventional sized RO/DI units divide the produced gallons above by 4 for the DI)

Bottom line really is that anyone can buy good quality parts and build a good unit. The guys at Spectrapure are true innovators in their field with products that no one else has even dreamed of. They even have an RO unit that will produce 2 parts product to 1 part waste at 200gpd with greater than 98% rejection!
 
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